parliament

MINISTERS STATEMENTS: West Gate tunnel project

March 8, 2018

MrCARROLL (Minister for Industry and Employment) (11:42:07) — I rise to update the house on the number of jobs on the West Gate tunnel project in the balance thanks to the grand coalition over there between the Greens political party, the National Party and the Liberal Party — 6000 new jobs, 500 apprentices, 400 jobs for Melbourne’s west and 150 jobs for ex‑auto workers. I urge all of these members on the other side during their lunch break to go down like the Minister for Roads and Road Safety did this morning and speak to those 700 workers and tell them to tell their families tonight why their jobs do not count.

Over the weekend we saw the emergence of a grand coalition in the German Parliament. We are seeing the emergence of a grand coalition over here. There is only one thing the Greens political party are missing: a bloke called David. There is the Metro Tunnel’s 7000 jobs and 4500 jobs on level crossings.

The Leader of The National Party wants to go up to Benalla and tell those workers — the up to 400 workers at the precast concrete facility — they do not matter at all. But why don’t you talk to Colin, who wrote on Facebook:

What a great thing for Benalla …

Or Graham:

At last some good news for Benalla. Bring it on! #benalla #jobs #northeastvic #westgate

Or Toby on Facebook, who says:

Brilliant work, Jaclyn Symes, and everyone else involved in building a brighter future for Benalla …

The National Party, the Greens political party, the Liberal Party — who are having a great day today — cannot wait for the weekend to come, can they? I think they read the morning press.

We are getting on with it. We have a $50 billion infrastructure program. The Andrews government is building manufacturing, building jobs for tomorrow and making sure we build a better future for Victorians.